Bladeslayer Online
by AnnalovesElsa
Summary: Judy and her sister are trapped in a virtual world, and Nick is being driven insane waiting for her to return. He does not know how to get to her. Meanwhile in another universe a new MMVRRPG opens up, and Kirito and Asuna check it, each choosing animal avatars.
1. Chapter 1

**Bladeslayer Online**

 **Chapter One**

Missing Files of the ZPD

Judy Hopps

 **Occupation:** One of our very own police officers.

 **Last seen:** Exiting Zootopia to visit her family.

 **Witnesses to abduction:** None

 **Suspects:** None, though a weasel is being held for questioning, it is unlikely he had anything to do with it because he has not left the city.

 **Other evidence supporting this case** : Her family's only car was returned to them by a partner to their farm who specializes in deliveries. The animal in question did not see Judy or her little sister, who both supposedly had gone off in this car to a city east of Zootopia called Wayburne. It is believed thatJudy's abductors picked her up at Wayburne but they could've gone anywhere from there.

NIck chugged down his third bottle of Seltzer's Finest. The warm beer didn't really solve the problem. But what was a cop without his partner to do?

"I feel ya, man," said a badger who took the seat next to Nick. "Girlfriend walked out on you and now you need to drown your sorrows in a cuppa."

"I didn't lose my-" Nick started to say. But the badger was staring at another badger at a booth with friends who wore a pink tank top and looked to be very tipsy.

Slinking away, hopefully unnoticed, he traipsed toward the exit. When a rhino paw clamped down on his shoulder...

"Hey Gormimull," said the rhino. "I know where your partner went."

"What?" Nick asked. How could other police offers know anything? Nick had read the file many times. Judy's whereabouts were unknown. These were the team who couldn't find any of the missing predators in the first case Judy and Nick solved together. Back then they didn't vie a damn about Judy, because of her species. And though they respected her now, Nick was the one who cared the most about her well-being as a person and not as a mere fellow enforcer of the law.

"I said I know where she is. Honestly Reynard, are you like a sloth when you've drunk yourself a keg?"

"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't call me Reynard," Nick said, feeling the fur of a rather skimpily-dressed young elk as she passed by him. "And if you have any leads on where Judy is, I'd like to know."

"Leads?" I don't need leads," the rhino said. He took a wine bottle from the tray of a passing bartnder calico who winked at him, then leapt on his shoulder, cooing. She whispered in his ear, then saw with whom he was speaking. She hissed because when she had tried to cozy up with Nick earlier, he had pushed her away.

"Where is she, then?" Nick asked.

"The boss will tell you," Officer Rhino said as the Calico did a tushdown on his shoulders, and he was lost to all form of communication. (A tushdown is sort of like a lap dance except not done on one's lap but having a similar effect.)

"Well, that's the last time I come to the Quaffensnooze," Nick said as he stood on the pavement outside. "So Chief Bogo knows where to go, eh? I'd better go ask him."

He hailed a taxi and got in, before seeing who was driving. It was a llama he had known in grade school.

"Er, hello, Emily," he said, in as casual a voice as he could manage considering his throat was drenched with beer and his ability to talk smoothly a bit more impaired by the effects of said drinking, since once or two glasses he had may've been something a bit stronger than that, a martini perhaps, or Vodka...

"You married yet?" the llama asked, looking at his claws. "Ring free, it looks like."

"No, I'm not-hic-married," Nick said. Once after grade school, Emily had come to his high school formal dance and asked him out, and he had told her that llama fur maqde him hiccup, so he was very sorry but he couldn't date her. Just in case she remembered, he laid it on thick-or as thick as he could given present circumstances.

"Still got the hiccups, I see," the llama said, pulling at the gear shift and getting the taxi going. "Where to, unbetrothed Nick?"

"Zootopia Police Department headquarters, pronto!"

She looked back at him, nearly running into a truck being driven by a very irriated looking tiger in green overalls. "Going to have me arrested, you studly fox, you?"

"Emily, the road!" Nick exclaimed, the idea of dying en route to figure out what happened to Judy alarming him temporarily out of his stupor.

"Oh, Nick, you know me, always living on the edge."

"Actually I did not know that. Now will you please get us to the police department?" Nick asked, as they narrowly avoided getting crushed by a cement truck. "In one piece, mind you."

"Oh you sily boy," she said, reaching back to pinch his cheek. "As cute as the day I first met you."

"Llamas pinch too hard," Nick said. He had forgotten about this species typical greeting of someone they hadn't seen in awhile. One of his friends who had gone through school and went to college invited him to several parties thrown by a rather pretty lalama who always wore the latest fashions. She pinched everyone at her parties when she first encountered them there, and she always pinched guys she thought were hot the hardest.

Nick closed his eyes and an image of himself and the Party Llama Plecine in a hot tub together entered his head. He opened his eyes and shook his head vigorously. Why was he even thinking that? Was it because he wanted Judy but because she was his partner, them being in a romantic relationship would interfere with their work?

"Woolgathering is best left to us llamas, you stud, you," said Emily as she squeezed between two cars and the side mirrors on the taxi tore off.

"Uh..." Nick said. "Just out of curiosity but is this your first day?"

"Nope. This is my fourth cab though. These things just aren't sturdy, last one fell apart after I made two trips. They should really build taxis like tanks, don't you think?"

"If you say so," Nick said, resting his nose against the window. He just wanted to be with Judy. Was this what was meant by really caring about someone? Deeply and truly? He did care about other animals of course, their well-being, protection, etc. He was a cop after all. But this...this was different. The need to have Judy near, to know she was safe, to see her face again.

Could she be dead? Nick sat up straight, wondering if he should be mourning. His heart skipped a beat. He really would rather this taxi crash into that Frito-Spade truck than Judy be dead. Was this what people meant when they said investing somuch time in a person can lead to irrational thoughts? But Judy! Nick would gladly die forher...so long s it meant she could live on! But if she was already dead, if it was too late...he couldn't bear it, or lion it, or even tiger it. This was just too much.

For the remainder of the trip, Nick's mind played horrific images of Judy lying soomewhere in someone's garage, blood stained and with a butcher's knife near her to feed to some monstrous predators...

 _It can't be...that's the stuff of fiction...it can't be,_ Nick kept repeating to himself.

"Here's your stop," Emily said at last. "That'll be $5.50."

"What?" Nick asked. His head was filled with horrific images of Judy being drowned by some sinister animal who held her underwater while she struggled...

"We're here. Zootopia Police Department. This is where you wanted to be taken, is it not?"

The pistol was raised to Judy's temple. Judy would not give in, tell the potential bank robbers the combination for the safe. So they pummeled her body with cold lead...leaving a fox behind to gtieve with her family at her funeral...

"You gonna pay up or what?"

"Uh yeah, sure," Nick said, extracting his wallet from his shirt pocket. How much again?"

Emily repeated the amount he owed and he fished out a one and a five, handing them to her. "Keep the change."

"Oh, but I need a tip too," Emily said.

"The change is your tip, if you want to perceive it as such. Now I've got to ask my boss for information."

Emily reached forward out of the driver's seat. She pinched each of Nick's cheeks iwth her hooves, irritating him. "Well, I'm off," the llama said. "If you ever need pinching, you know where to look me up."

And with that she shifted gear and took off, leaving Nick semi-pleased to not be in her company anymore, b ut distraught because he feared the worst from what Chief Bogo would tell him.

He wished he could hop up the steps the way Judy could. She made everything seem good and worthwhile.

With a feeling of dread he pulled open the door and entered the police station. The lights inside were dim as they presumably usually were at 2:00 a.m. every morning.

Officer Clawhauser stood behind his desk as usual.

"Hey, Claw. What'cha doing here after hours?"

"Oh, Chief Bogo wanted me to be here to greet you, make it a little less unsettling, you know, with the news he has to tell you."

"He knows where Judy is?" Nick asked, trying to keep the tremors out of his voice and not sure he had succeeded entirely.

"Er, I can't say that he does," the jaguar said. "He didn't tell me one way or another. Btu I hope you have good luck with him."

"I hope so too," Nick said as he headed to Bogo's office. He took a deep breath as another sickening image of centuries old torture being used on Judy, claws being scratched in her belly before she was coerced into laying her head on a guillotine and waiting with dread for someone to release the pulley which would culminate he r life...

"take a sea," the chief said when Nick entered. His back was turned to the fox as he stared plaintively out the window. "And be prepared for news of a -not necessarily benign nature."

Nick sat in the chair but was braced for the worst, such as a combination of any of the horrific happenings to have come to Judy that his mind had conjured up on the ride here...

The wildebeest turned to face the fox who had been a very dutiful partner of a tag team who really helped clean Zootopia of ctrime, better than any other team the chief had seen in all his years at the ZPD. Which made what he had to communicate to Officer Wilde all that more unbearable.

"First things first," Chief Bogo said, taking his own seat. "did you hear about the new virtual reality game, _Bladeslayer Online_?"

"I have not," Nick said, getting frustrated with the chief. "Look, I came here to discover news about what happened to Judy, not engage in chitchat."

"I was coming to that," said the wildebeest. "I'm sure you've seen the reports. Officer Hopps was last seen leaving Zootopia to visit her family."

"I know this, Chief. What I don't know is where she is _now_."

"Yes, I'm aware of your need to know the whereabouts of your partner, which is why Iasked you to come here this late at night, soon as we could confirm all the info we have gathered. It has not espaced my notice that your work for us has slackened a bit since she went missing. And yet you're one of our ablest officers when you're on form. You and Officer Hopps are an unstoppable team in upholding the law and catching those who attempt to abuse it."

"I'm sorry, sir, if my work has been subpar recently. I need to know Judy's all right."

"And if she weren't?" the wildebeest asked, raising his eyebrow. "What then?'

"Well, if Judy were taken from me permanently by someone with a sick bent on ending her life, or for some reason that would prevent me from seeing Judy again, well, if that were to happen, I'd have to resign."

"I understand, Officer Wilde. If Judy's predicament is so severe that you'll never see her again, you'll turn in your badge."

"That is correct. I do not see myself returning to normal productivity should that be the case. I might make more and more errors, which just wouldn't be right for a police officer. So for the good of the citizens of Zootopia, the best thing for me to do in such a scenario would be to leave the force."

"I see," the wildebeest said, looking disconcerted.

"Tell me I'll see her again. Please. If I have your word on that, I'll be okay."

"I'm afraid I can't promise that," Chief Bogo said.

"She's not dead, is she?"

The wildebeest coughed hard, using his hoof to cover it. HIs shoulders heaved as if he were on the verge of given Nick the worst news he could possibly hear. A dozen new envisionings of Judy's fate flitted into Nick's mind. "Er, not dead, no," said the chief, once his composure retrned. "But there's a chance she might not come back."

"She might not come back? From where? Who has her?"

"No one has her, per se. Or perhaps I should tell you that though her circumstances are certainly dire, her whereabouts are not unknown to us. "

The fox's ears pricked at this. "But the report said-"

"I know what's in the file," Chief Bogo said. "Officer Hopps is still missing, sort of. But this afternoon some new information arrived here which has since been verified, and this information tells us where we can find Judy, or not find her as the case has turned out."

"What did you find out?" Nick asked, bracing for the worst.

"We discovered this evening that Officer Hopps did in fact visit family on her time off, as she said she was going to. She and her-harummm, much young sister went to a convention center to test out a new virtual reality that same sister helped devlop."

"So she was abducted at the Convention Center?"

"No " said the wildebeest. "Or I suppose in a manner of speaking," he added, stroking his goatee.

"Meaning?" Nick inquired, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Meaning her body is accounted for. But her mind is in the virtual world the game contains."

"Then why don't I go down there and unhook her or take off her headgear or whatever?"

"Because, Officer Wilde," said the wildebeest, sighing as though what he was about to say might truly shock the fox, "any means to yank her out of the virtual world by force from this end will result in her death."


	2. Chapter 2

**Bladeslayer Online**

 **Chapter Two**

Nick stared in disbelief. "You're joking, right?"

"Officer Wilde, do I look like a goat to you?"

"No."

"Good, because I never kid," said the wildebeest. "A few players were yanked out of the game by loved ones and they all died. Every last one of them. And so there is a high probability the same would happen to Officer Hopps if anyone attempted to free her by that means. Which means-"

"Judy's in danger, yeah," Nick said, sighing. "But couldn't the programmers just shut it off?"

The wildebeest stared at him for a few seconds. "Excellent idea, Wilde. Only one problem. The chief programmer is the reason any animal forcibly removed from the game is killed."

"What, he shoots them dead when they remove their gear?"

Chief Bogo shook his head. "If it were that simple, we'd have it shut down in a jiffy and Judy and you would be back to par the day after tomorrow. But it's the gear or something, does a job on the person's body, cuts their jugulars or something. Whatever it is, it isn't pretty. So there's no way around this issue."

"Couldn't someone just capture the chief programmer and force him to release the gamers?"

"Believe me if it were that simple, the problem would've been solved by now. But it seems the programmer knew we'd be after him and he locked himself in the game as well."

"Might as well give him a taste of his own medicine," said Nick, pumping his paw in the air. "Remove his headgear."

"We have considered that, but that would not get Judy or any of the other gamers back to the real world. We'd also have a mess on our lands of losing the respect of his staff. Which means that getting him arrested would be that much more difficult."

"So what are we to do?" Nick asked. "I'm not one to sit on my tail and wait for things to happen."

"Well, until the players, including Judy, clear the game, nothing can be done," Chief Bogo said, tapping his hooves against the mahogany desk multiple times. "170 players have died already from the animals that care about them trying to remove their headgear. It fried their brains. Don't ask me to explain the science of it. But that's the kind of danger Officer Hopps is in."

"So we wait," Nick said.

"Yes, that's what we do. Wait."

"I don't like this one bit," Nick said, his arms folded.

"Do you think I like it, Officer Wilde? But what choice do we have?"

"They could be stuck in there a long time though."

"If I know Officer Hopps, she'll be doing whatever she can to get out. And that is encouraging to me. It should be encouraging to you also."

Nick thought that as soon as he got out of there, he'd start ruminating until he came up with a plan to rescue Judy. Aplan that would actually work, unlike the other dozen things he thought of so far.

"That is, however, not the only reason I called you down here," Chief Bogo said. He passed a file over to Nick. "The reason I needed to speak with you tonight is the abduction of Gazelle, the pop singer. We don't have any leads. You are the only who isn't tied up with a case right now, and so I want you to pursue it."

Nick l spent a few minutes looking over the file before shutting the folder. "With all due respect, sir, I don't think I'm cut out for a job like this. Not without Jud-Officer Hopps-at my side."

"That's why I'm not sending you alone. Officer McHorn will have your back. As will Spotsee, A Calico who has been ttrained by the FBI. They are currently on their way here. Sit tight and wait for them."

"That doesn't sound like much fun."

"Officer Wilde, I know you're tired of being told to wait. But it's what you must do, if we are to rescue Officer Hopps and locate Gazelle."

"All right, all right," Nick said, leaping from the chair. "Would you mind if I booted up a computer? It may help me in finding a lead for the Gazelle case."

"That's the spirit I like to see in the officers who work here," Chief Bogo said, scoming over and slapping Nick on the back. "You may use Officer Roland's computer. Third floor. H-27."

"Oky, Chief. Will do. And when Officer McHorn and the calico arrive, be sure to tell them where I am."

"I hope you solve this case," Bogo said. "It will revive your spirits while Officer Hopps is unavailable. And that's always good for an officer to have, a diversion if they're parter is detained somehow."

"I'll bear that in mind," Nick said, causing Chief Bogo to groan. The plolice chief didn't like lame jokes. Flash liked telling them just to be a little annoying from time to time. He sometimes felt that he wanted Judy to be the only animal in the world to know the true Nicl. Of course he would be meeting her family some day, and he wouldn't want them to think him standoffish. But right now he had to hurry to the computer.

While feeling miserable over the loss of Judy, Nick had been looking up Depression Support groups online. One goroup had talked about some folks who had been absorbed into a video game or something, and many of them were depressed. Supposedly they were sent to a building together apart from other animals across the world. Nick just didn't know what the site was called, or how he located it. He hoped he'd have time to figure it out before Officer McHorn showed up. Nick had a feeling that whoever these animals were, they could help.

He took the elevator to the third floor and found the desk he needed. Then he turned the computer on, becoming impateient with thow long it took to reach the home page. There also should have been a password request, Nick ws pretty sure. But apparently the computer had either been password disabled or othis computer didn't have one so that any police officer or personnel in the building could use it, ;provided no one else ws doing so at the time.

The latter sounded a bit farfetched to Nick. He turned on another computer though and sure enough it asked for a password. REturning to desk H-27, he clicked on the lower case E at the bottom of the screen. IThen he went to Google and tried several keywords.

Nothing came up though, and twenty minutes later he was ready to give up. He knew Officer McHorn would be there soon. So he thought hard, hoping it'd come to him. Nothing did.

One depression site he found, .com, left him more battled than ever. It claimed that the way to get over depression was to break a bunny's heart. Nick would raather get run over by a truck than do that to Judy.

He was about to hit backspace when he saw the Habadashery Bunny symbol. It wasof a shield crossed by twin swords. And it said the swords' names were Remus and Romulus. Those two things together caused something to click in Nick's brain.

 _It had something to do with swords_ , he thought to himself. He tried Sword Gale Online in Google. Nothing crossed up.

If he could just remember the username he saw, it might help him find it. Perhaps the user had sent him a message. If so, that message might be in his e-mail. Hoping he wasn't breaking any rules in the police officer code of conduct, Nick went to check his e-mail.

 **-You have 1 new message from Kirito!**

Nick clicked on the link provided and was taken tothe login page. He didn't recall his password, so he had an e-mail sent to help him get a new password. Then once all that was taken care of, her logged in and read Kirito's message.

 _Dear Slyfoxguy1224,_

 _Despression can be a very hard thing to get over. If you lost someone, I know it can be almost impossible to get back on your feet. I've lost people in my time. Good people. I wish I had them back, every day I think of them. Which is pretty much every day._

 _All you can do is trst the people in your current life. If whoever is missing is dead, well, you can't bring them back, unfortunatelyh. If however, it isn't a dead person we're talking about, you need to trust that they're okay. If there's anything you can do in your power to save them, do so. But never give up fighting._

 _Hope there's goodness awaiting you,_

 _Kirito._

 _P.S. If she is dead, and I find a way to bring back the dead, I will relay it to you. She sounds like someone you couldn't really live without There's someone in my life like that too. I have people here who care about me, and whom I love as well. But this one girl...it's different with her. I'd be so depressed I walk a gangplank if a pirate ever forced me to. So I know where you're coming from._

 _P.P.S. How did I know it was a she? Well you slipped up in your last message. You rried to present it as hypothetical, but then you named her. Judy, that's her name, right? I promise if I hear of a girl named Judy, or meet her anywher, who is missing her Nick, I will contact you and bring you back together and-_

 _THE REST OF THIS MESSAGE WAS TYPED BY ASUNA_

 _Sorry, Nick. Kirito got carried away. We have no way of knowing if Nick is your real name, or if "Judy" is just a code name for your girlfriend or whatever. But Kirito's not the only one handy with a sword. If you need anything, I'm always happy to help too._

 _From,_

 _Asuna._

 _(And yes I realize that I just put a signature to an e-main which already has a signature. Kirito thinks it's amusing. Anhow, good luck with finding Judy. Whoever she is, she's definitely important to you. And I think she'd cry to know you care so much about her._

Nick felt tears trickle down his cheeks. Kirito and Asna. Whoever they were, they sure didn't mind encouraging him. And poor Judy! Stuck in that game. It pained him to think that Judy's condition might involve all the horrors he thought up and more. He just now realized that he knew absolutely nothing about _Bladeslayer Online._ With shaking paws, he hit up Google again, hoping to find answers.

He found a site which promised to tell what _Bladeslayer Online_ was, how to acquire skills, and how to play it with the most guaranteed strategy to win.

That didn't sound good to Nick. If an animal in the game could win, didn't that mean that all other animals lost? So provided Judy could survive the game mechanics...one glaring issue remained. Everyone Judy met intside the game would also have to die. And Judy couldn't live with herself if that happened. She'd be overcome by guilt. It would torment her to her dying day. And Judy being tormented meant Nick would be heartbroken. He doubted he could shake her into feeling good about the whole situation.

Maybe Kirito and Asuna knew what to do, but Nick sure didn't.

He went back to send a message to Kirito, and started typing it when he heard tghe elevator grilles come to a halt. The doors opened and Officer McHorn was there, a calico sitting on his shoulder. The same calico from the saloon.

"It's time to get on the case, Wilde," the rhino said.

"Let me finish this-" Nick said.

"It's time to come now," the calico remarked. "And if you don't comply, I'll leap down from here and scratch you up like crazy."

"Fine, I'm coing," Nick said. He finished typing his sentence and sent it off. It wasn't a complete message, but he hoped Kirito would understand.

"All right, let's go," Nick said, steping down from the chair. He skipped toward the elevator, causing Officer McHOrn and the calico to stare.

"What? With no Judy in my life, I've got to make up for her pent-u pengery. She's always emitting and using it."

"Great, working with a lunatic fox on this case," the cat said, rolling her eyes. "Figures.

They all three entered the elevator. Nick was prepared to discuss the case. Nick was ready, but not as ready as he felt for Judy to returnto him safe and sound.

And if push came to shove, he hoped that Kirito and Asuna would be able to find a way. He didn't know why, but something about hem screamed trustworhiness. Which was what he needed. Light in this darkness sans Judy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bladeslayer Online**

 **Chapter Three**

Kirito sipped at the expresso Suguha had brought him. He had just received an e-mail from Asuna saying she had found a new VRMMO he might be interested in. She said they were talking about it in Neochat Forums, and that she thought the game might interest him.

When he reached the forums she had indicated, he didn't know where to look immediately. Then he saw it. A thread entitled _"New VRMMO WILL TEST YOUR SKILLS!"_

Opening the thread, he read the following,sipping the expresso to keep him going as he hadn't had much sleep the night before.

Bladeslayer Online _is a game so intense, you'll feel like you're in SAO! Or PLO which many feel is the better game._

Kirto scoffed at that. He , Asuna, and Leafa had all dipped into _Platinum Lake Online._ It was a game very few people really enjoyed playing (the most people it had ever had logged in was 31), and it required no skill to wi n if you knew how to play it a certain way and the other players did not, you'd pretty much guarantee yourself victory. Kirito had beaten it but he didn't feel any better after doing so. He had felt it was a waste of time.

Sinon had destroyed everyone when she played, but she told him that she didn't find any enjoyment from winning it either. It left her cold and empty. At least tat was the way she described it to Kirito.

He carried on reading.

 _Like SAO and PLO it requires strategy_ IKirito groaned here) _and it's a leveling up game, as the other two are. You can take your weapons from any of the fantasy line of games, inlcuing ALO, HHO, REO, PLO, and DDO, and use them in bSO._

 _But-and here's why I warn you to stay away-you will not be playing as a human being, fairy leprechaun, or whatever else you have played as in the other fantasy games._

 _Instead you will be an animal. And before you go, "Piece of Cake," let me tell you something._

 _BSO is hyperactive. Supposedly those who play it are so immersed in the game that they believe they had been that animal they transform into for the game their whole lives. So unless you're prepared to forget that you were ever human, andeven forget what humans are, do NOT play this game._

 _Logging out will be possible, otherwise we would not know people who plaeed itSo I wish you the best of luck. Because I guarantee that without luck, you will be force-exited out of the game._

 _Oh by the way, you can't log out. I feel I'd have it on my conscience if I didn't warn you. Like SAO, you cannot leave the game when you choose. You will be forced to leave when you die, and in that case you will return to the human world_

 _And I warn you, if you think you won't die-you're wrong, wrong, wrong. Let me tell you somethineg. There are other players out there for whom thier animal avatars seem natural. They do not seem to go down as easily as you noobs. I don't know if they've just had longer time to practice, or if this game being secret for the first three months of its existence had something to do with it._

 _Oh and I think it's fair to say that NOTHING you have ever done is as intense as this. One of our players came back shell-shocked from her fourth run. She has not picked up a headset in the six weeks since \_

 _If you're not scared yet, you ought to know that Sheila Danson, the girl in question, was one of the survivors of SAO, and she has played many VRMMORPG'S. She is somewhat of a legend. So if you aren't scared off yet, remember this...even the strongest pale before_ Bl;adslayer Online. _So consider yourself warned._

Kirito frowned at the name. Sheila Danson. Her in-game name in SAO had been Karuai. She wore yellow dresses often and carried a sword whose tip was dipped in poison. Another beater and solo player like Kirito, he had met her during the months following Sachi's death, when he felt so lost and guilty.

Kamurai took to Kirito immediately, calling the pair of them the KK. She expected him to feel the same way seh did, but he couldn't reciprocate the feeling. He then asked her to give him a year to decide. That would give him time to figure out how to get rid of her.

She never fought on the front lines, preferring to kill Laughing Coffin members on her own. Known as the Coffin Slayer the way other players of SAO called Asuna "Lightning-Flash," Kamurai had a reputation, which wasn't good.

By the time thhe anniversary of the day came, Kirito had joined the Knights of the Blood Oath. Then Kamurai found out about Asuna. Filled with rage, she join a guild herself, and swore to have Kirito's blood on her hands if she ever met him in the game universe.

Lizbeth had gone to visit her to speak on Kirito's behalf, and Kamurai had sliced into Lizbeth's shoulder with her sword. Despite being a swordmaker, Lizbeth had wanted a peaceful meeting so she had left her weapons in her shop.

Kamurai was vicious and felt very embittered by Kirito, but he couldn't help it. He didn't like her that way. That said, she was a stunning gamer, and her guilde, the Red Lion, had gained some fame for turning the killing of wild beasts into a celebration, and Kamurai caught two S-class beasts (one more than Kirito ever did) and her guild feasted well those times.

In other games she had made a name for herself also, and in _Platinum Lakes Online_ she was known to be undefeatable, anyone playing against her was guaranteed to lose, it was said.

For her to be afraid of playing games, it would take a lot of fright, and even then he didn't know what could scare her. Then again she had been a human in all the games she made a name for herself playing. Perhaps being an animal altered your perspective. And something in the game had shell-shocked her.

"What's up?" Suguha asked, taking the seat next to Kirito.

"I was just reading up on..." he started to say, when he remembered something. He had heard of _Bladeslayer Online_ before. That was the game Nick's friend Judy was playing. She had been trapped in there, which Kirito assumed meant she hadn't died yet. He knew what frustration Nick must be going through (also acknowledging that Nick and Judy might not be the real names of the two he hAd promised himself he'd help if he could...)

"You were reading up on what?" Kirito's cousin asked.

Shaking his head, Kirito waved at the computer screen. He waited for Suguha to finish reading.

"I never heard of this Kamujrai," Suguha said. "Did you know her?"

"Vaguely," Kirito said out loud. Which was a rather terse way of saying _She put a noose around my neck and nearly forced me to marry her once, but I was already with Asuna by then and anyway I'm not interested in Kamurai on a romantic level._

"Are you saying we should try out this game? It sounds intense."

"I'm saying we should ask Asuna and see what she thinks." _Either way I'm playing_ Bladslayer Online, Kirito thought.

"You ask her, and I'll ask Sinon, Silica, and Liz."

"Don't forget Klein," Kirito said.

"I could never forget Klein. Not after that text he sent me."

Kirito gazed concernedly at his sister/cousin. Their relationship was pretty complicated but either way she was his sister if not biologically, because of how they were brought up. "Klein wont' bother you on that. I told him it was callous to send something like that to you. He's...getting very anxious to get a girl to like him."

"Bet he'd love _Bladeslayer Online_ ," Suguha said. "All the 'girls' there are bunnies, leopards, squirrels..."

"Unless they allow inter-species dating there, Klein won't be too thrilled," Kirito remarked.

"Yeah but they're all humans in the real world, aren't they? So if he does meet a girl who likes him back, well, she and him can meet in real life where they're both humans."

"This is all hypothetical," Kirito said. _Our focus will be to protect Judy, not to find a mate for Klein_ , he thought.

"Whatever," Suguha said. "I can't wait to enter this game world. See what else you can find out about it online."

"Okay, will do," Kirito said. He then spent an hour and a half hunting up any information he could find concerning the gameplay of _Bladeslayer Online._ Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything other than similar warnings to the one he had just read. "You will be bled out every time before your fourth or fifth try," said one Source. "I don't know who these other players are, but they are WAY better at being animals than new players to this game are. If you think you're tough stuff from other games, _Bladeslayer Online_ will humble you."

 _That's pretty discouraging,_ Kirito said. _Sounds like we're blindly going into an intense game. And for what? To help someone I don't know whom I spoke with over the Internet..._

Then the image of Asuna in a birdcage entered his head. That sick pervert-Suguo-licking her, feeling her, satisfying himself with her. Whoever Nick was, Judy sounded like his Asuna. And Nick, for whatever reason, couldn't rescue her himself. So it was up to Kirito and his crew to do it.

He knew how helpless he'd feel if he couldn't do anything to save Asuna but had to depend on others to do it. Nick must be postiively miserable right now, whoever he was. And Nick had personally asked Kirito to help if he could. Now an opportunity to do so had fallen in Kirito's lap, and he was feeling a bit jittery from some lousy comments online. No! He was a beater! He and Asuna had defeated Aincrad together, and then Kayaba's system echo helped him defeat Suguo in ALO. He wasn't some chump with no fighting experience, and he definitely wouldn't feel right letting a game defeat him, not when someone was counting on him! Judy could be in grave danger as he was thinking this, and the troupe planning to enter the game! If he could help her, he needed to.

 _Nick, you are a stranger for me, but I know what you're going through. And I will not stand for it. Your Jdudy is in safe hands. Paws. Webbed feet? I don't know the selection of animals in the game, but I know this: she's safe with us. The Black Swordswman is here, and I promise, no matter how many times it takes, I will return Judy safely to you. That's a promise._

 **Up next: Kirito and company will make a full dive into Bladeslayer Online, each taking on an animal avatar. They learn that the mechanics of the game are tougher than anything they've faced before. Getting used to their new bodies isn't as easy as they predicted. And Kirito realizes he doesn't know what species Judy is in the game, nor what her username is. So in addition to needing to learn the mechanics of BSO, he has to figure out how to find Judy, if he's to keep his promise to Nick.**


End file.
